Front Cover 2 Postal Bulletin 22353 (12-27-12)
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Front Cover 2 postal bulletin 22353 (12-27-12) Contents COVER STORY Mailing and Shipping Services Premium Forwarding Service. 3 Mail Alert . 73 District Price Change Coordinators List . 76 POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND FORMS UPDATES Retail Stamps by Mail — Brochure Ordering Information . 77 Manuals DMM Revision: New Formal Mailing Option of Stamp Services Every Door Direct Mail-Retail . 4 2013 Stamps and Postal Stationery . 79 DMM Revision: POSTNET Barcode Discontinuation. 7 Pictorial Postmarks Announcement . 80 DMM Revision: Retirement of FASTforward Technology . 16 Postmark America . 81 DMM Revision: New Eligibility Standards for How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Digital Parcel Select Nonpresort Mailpieces . 17 Color or Traditional Postmarks . 81 DMM Revision: New Mailing Standards for Domestic USPS.com Mailing Services Products. 18 What’s New on USPS.com? . 83 DMM Revision: Customs Declaration Requirements for Mailpieces Sent To or From APO, FPO, and DPO Locations. 55 PULL-OUT INFORMATION IMM Revision: Temporary Suspension of Sure Money (DineroSeguro) Service for Purchases Over $1,500 . 55 Fraud Invalid Express Mail Corporate Account Numbers . 35 Handbooks Missing, Lost, or Stolen U.S. Money Order Forms . 36 Handbook AS-353 Revision: Guide to Privacy and Missing, Lost, or Stolen Canadian Money the Freedom of Information Act . 56 Order Forms . 42 Publications Verifying U.S. Postal Service Money Orders . 44 Publication 75, Mover’s Guide, News . 62 Counterfeit Canadian Money Order Forms . 44 Publication 431 Revision: Changes to Post Office Toll-Free Number Available to Verify Canadian Box Service and Caller Service Fee Groups. 63 Money Orders . 44 Decals Other Information DDD1: Mail Collection Policy Decal Is Now Available . 64 Overseas Military/Diplomatic Mail . 45 Forms PS Forms 2976 and 2976-A Are Available for Ordering From the Material Distribution Center . 65 Postal Bulletin Index ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Semi-Annual Index. PB 22341 (7-12-12) Address Management Post Office Changes . 67 Channel Access USPS National Emergency Hotline Competitive Fees for PO Boxes . 67 Is your facility operating? Call 888-363-7462 Finance 2013 Social Security and Medicare Tax Withholding Rates and Limits . 68 Forever Stamp Stock Revaluation Instructions . 68 Forever Stamps Price Change Instructions for Stamps by Mail Orders . 70 Instructions for Payments Mailed Before January 27, 2013, Price Change. 70 Policy Reminder – Reporting an Airline Refund in eTravel for a Cancelled Fare . 71 Equipment Maintenance Allowance Schedule for Rural Routes . 73 Also on the Web at about.usps.com/postal-bulletin Cover Story postal bulletin 22353 (12-27-12) 3 Cover Story Premium Forwarding Service Taking a long vacation? Or an out-of-town assignment? PFS is a temporary service that can be used from 15 Make sure you don’t miss any bills or other important mail. days up to 1 year. For a weekly fee, the Postal Service™ will hold your mail, Some packages will arrive at the temporary address package it up, and reship it to you each week by Priority with postage due: ® Mail . ® Standard Mail pieces are included in a weekly ship- ® Here’s how Premium Forwarding Service (PFS) works: ment if they fit. Otherwise, they’re shipped postage ® Pay $15.00 to enroll in PFS and a weekly flat fee for due at the 1-pound Parcel Post price. ® each week you have your mail reshipped. Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail , and Enrollment Fee Weekly Library Mail pieces aren’t included in Premium For- for PFS Shipment Fee warding Service shipments. They are shipped post- Current pricing $15.00 $15.25 age due with the service originally used to send Pricing effective $15.00 $17.00 January 27, 2013 them. To enroll, pay, and update your service online, visit http:// Most mail is bundled and sent to you every Wednes- usps.com/premiumforwarding or enroll and pay at your local day via Priority Mail, our 2- to 3-day service. Any Post Office™ with two forms of ID and evidence of residence Express Mail® is automatically rerouted directly to at the primary address. you. Priority Mail items are reshipped right away or included in your weekly shipment as long as their — Retail Services, delivery wouldn’t be delayed. Channel Access, 12-27-12 ® First-Class Mail mailpieces that don’t fit in the weekly shipment are rerouted separately at no extra cost. 4 postal bulletin 22353 (12-27-12) Policies, Procedures, and Forms Updates Policies, Procedures, and Forms Updates Manuals DMM Revision: New Formal Mailing Option of Every Door Direct Mail-Retail Effective January 27, 2013, the Postal Service™ will lowed for EDDM-Retail flats under 140. For general revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Ser- retail mailability, all pieces 1/4 inch thick or less must vice, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 100, 300, and 602 to be a minimum of 5 inches long and 3-1/2 inches high add new standards for saturation mailings of Standard and 0.007 inch thick. Mail® mailpieces known as Every Door Direct Mail-Retail® ***** (EDDM-R or EDDM-Retail). [Add new section, 140, as follows:] Although Standard Mail® mailpieces have been allowed to bear simplified addresses for many years, the Postal 140 Standard Mail Flats — Every Door Direct Mail Service is including simplified mailing procedures for (EDDM)-Retail EDDM-Retail, a type of Standard Mail saturation flats that 143 Prices and Eligibility bear simplified addresses and are entered in quantities of 5000 or less per 5-digit ZIP Code® at the delivery unit 1.0 Description, Price, and Fees office. We are also adding a new alternative marketing term 1.1 General Description of EDDM-Retail Service “EDDM” for Standard Mail flats with simplified addresses entered at Business Mail Entry Units (BMEUs). Standard Mail flats with simplified addresses (under 602.3.0) are also known as Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) When mailers mail under the new conditions for EDDM- and may be mailed as commercial mail under 340 or, under Retail, the Postal Service does not charge the one-time conditions in 140, as EDDM-Retail flats. permit imprint application fee nor the annual presort mail- ing fee otherwise associated with mailing Standard Mail. To 1.2 EDDM-Retail Flats Characteristics help determine the best marketing area for their mailpieces, EDDM-Retail flats must weigh a maximum of 3.3 ounces mailers access an online tool to find the number of deliver- and must have a length greater than 10-1/2 inches long, a ies for each route or Post Office Box™ section within their height greater than 6-1/8 inches high, or a thickness local Post Office’s™ delivery area. In addition, mailers do greater than 1/4 inch thick. See 101.2.1 for general mini- not maintain a trust account for postage payment; instead mum dimensions. EDDM-Retail flats have the following paying at the time of mailing and using a simplified postage maximum dimensions: statement. a. The length (the longest dimension) must be a maxi- Our current standards for use of simplified addresses mum of 15 inches. for Standard Mail entered through Business Mail Entry b. The height must be a maximum of 12 inches. Units and simplified addresses used on other classes of mail are not changing. We are adding an alternative mar- c. The thickness must be a maximum of 0.75 inch. keting name of Every Door Direct Mail. 1.3 Price For price, see Notice 123—Price List. Nonprofit prices do Mailing Standards of the United States Postal not apply to flats mailed under EDDM-Retail. Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 1.4 Fees and Services ***** There are no annual presort or mailing fees to mail pieces 100 Retail Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels as EDDM-Retail. No ancillary service endorsements are allowed on pieces mailed as EDDM-Retail flats. 101 Physical Standards ***** ***** 2.0 Content Standards for EDDM-Retail Flats 2.0 Physical Standards for Flats 2.1 Definition and Weight 2.1 General Definition of Flat-Size Mail EDDM-Retail flats are Standard Mail, and are generally Flat-size mail is: subject to Standard Mail eligibility standards, with differ- [Revise item 2.1a as follows:] ences as described in 2.0 due to the use of simplified a. More than 11-1/2 inches long, or more than 6-1/8 addresses. EDDM-Retail mailpieces consist of mailable inches high, or more than 1/4 inch thick, except as al- matter that is neither mailed nor required to be mailed as Policies, Procedures, and Forms Updates postal bulletin 22353 (12-27-12) 5 First-Class Mail and that is not authorized to be mailed as vicing the routes and Post Office Box sections to which Periodicals. All EDDM-Retail flats in a mailing must be of delivery is intended. identical content, size, and weight, and cannot weigh more 3.2 Forwarding and Return Service than 3.3 ounces. Each piece must meet the physical stan- dards for a flat under 101.2.0. See 101.2.1 for dimensions. No forwarding or return service is available for pieces mailed as EDDM-Retail. 2.2 Personal Information 3.3 Extra Services Personal information may not be included in an EDDM- Retail mailpiece. No extra services are available with EDDM-Retail mail- pieces. 2.3 Bills and Statements of Account 3.4 Additional Standards for EDDM-Retail Flats Mail containing bills or statements of account as defined in 333.2.2 may not be entered as EDDM-Retail mail. Each EDDM-Retail mailing is subject to postage payment standards in 144, preparation standards in 145, and 2.4 Handwritten and Typewritten Matter deposit and entry standards in 146. Mail containing handwritten or typewritten matter may not EDDM-Retail flats are not subject to the ZIP Code accuracy be entered as EDDM-Retail mail.